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Williams, spelling out the harsh reality of what relegation would mean to a relatively small club overstretched by Premier League wages, said: 'There was a time when clubs got relegated and tomatoes were thrown at directors' cars, and fans simply lost the bragging rights in the pub.

'These days you might end up losing your business if you're not careful. This club's been around since 1875, and the current board did what we had to do to preserve it.

'We'll suffer great hardship if relegated. Our turnover would fall £56m to £22m. That's turnover. Not the end of the story. And that's why we've acted. The fact is, we have a relatively small fan base and external funding.

'We can talk about wages as a percentage of turnover until we're blue in the face. I don't need an accountant to tell me the percentage we're paying is too high. The fact is, we don't play against turnovers on Saturday afternoons.

'We play against other teams' wage bills. If you want to be competitive you have to give yourself a chance and that stretches us enormously.'

Allardyce has only a small amount for new signings in the transfer window, with Rovers relying on his acumen in the loan market and ability to get the best out of the current squad.

Williams added: 'We're in a serious predicament. Let's not over-egg it because if we do that, we'll definitely go down. But the fact is if we go win, lose, draw for the rest of the season, we'll end up on 41 points. I don't know if that'll be enough. That's what led us to Sam. He's been there and done it, and we think by appointing him we've given ourselves the best chance.'